Method of controlling fabric for transfer in straight bar knitting machines



E. R. ZIEMBA METHOD OF CONTROLLING FABRIC FOR TRANSFER IN STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1. 1968 F1r3- E IMF Get. 1111 E [EMBA METHOD OF CONTROLLING FABRIC FOR TRANSFER IN STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. March 1.. .1968

United States Patent O ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rod having outwardly extending ends for insertion in a preformed welt to stretch the welt substantially the same coursewise extent as a transfer course thereof transferred to the needles of a straight bar knitting machine. The rod is inserted in the welt at a position remote from the transfer course and serves to condition the welt for attachment of draw-T1 means of the machine thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention is directed to a fabric control member for attachment to a preformed welt having a terminal course transferred to a row of needles of a straight bar knitting machine, the control member acting to control the width of the free portion of the welt to permit engagement of draw-off mechanism of the machine to the welt in a manner to apply a uniform tension to the welt and a body fabric subsequently knitted thereto.

Prior art conventionally in straight bar or full-fashioned knitting machines adapted to knit fiat selvaged body fabric portions to preformed rib welts to form outer garments such as sweaters and the like, the welts as initially knitted on the rib machine tend to contract in width and the welts must then be stretched to place terminal or transfer courses of the welts on the points of transfer bars. The bars with the free portions of the welts thereon still in contracted condition, are then placed in the body knitting machine and the bars are operated to transfer the terminal courses to the needles of the body machine generally in the manner set forth in British Pat. No. 995,091, published Apr. 15, 1964. Following transfer of the welts to the needles of the machine, draw-off means is attached to the free portions of the welts extending from the needles to draw-off and tension the welts and body fabrics subsequently knitted thereto. One form of draw-off mechanism employed to draw off and tension the fabrics, of the type disclosed in the application of Herbert E. Haehnel and Erich M. Kaese, Ser. No. 469,415, filed July 6, 1965, now US. Pat. No. 3,390,550, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application, includes bars having hooks with down-turned ends and the bars are automatically moved toward the needles during which movement the down-turned ends of the hooks are raised slightly and then lowered to engage the welts at points adjacent the needles. The bars are then moved in the take-up direction to draw off and tension the fabrics.

When the contraction in the free portions of the welts extending from the needles is slight as compared to the length of the transfer courses on the needles, the

3,535,894 Patented Oct. 27, 1970 welts remain in substantially flat condition below the path of the draw-off bars so that attachment of the latter to the welts results in the application of substantially uniform tension to the welts and body fabrics knitted thereto. However, very often the contraction in the free portions of the welts is such as to cause the center portions thereof to curl upwardly and inwardly toward the needles and away from the hooks of the draw-off bars and in consequence the draw-off bars may miss the welts or only partially engage the welts. This in turn results in defective attachment of the draw-off bars to the welts and the application of uneven tension thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly summarized the invention resides in the provision of a member for attachment to a preformed welt in a manner to stretch the width of a free portion of the welt to substantially the same extent as a terminal course of the welt topped onto a transfer bar. Thereafter, when the terminal course is transferred from the transfer bar to a row of needles of a body knitting machine the member acts to control the condition of the free portion of the welt for application of a uniform tension to the welt and a body fabric knitted thereto by the body machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a knitting head or section of a full-fashioned knitting machine incorporating the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale taken in the direction of the arrows 2-Z of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one form of fabric control member according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modified form of fabric control member according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along the line and in the direction of the arrows 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but with the parts shown in different operating positions;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating one stage in preparing a preformed welt for transfer to the needles of the machine; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing another stage in preparing the welt for transfer to the needles of the machine.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6, there is shown a portion of a knitting head or section of a preferably multisection fullfashioned knitting machine for knitting fabric blanks, such as for sweaters and the like, the knitting section including a row of spring bearded needles 10 which are carried in a needle bar 11 and which cooperate with sinkers 12, slidably mounted in slots in a sinker-head 15 and knockover bits 16. The needles, sinkers and knockover bits are conventionally operated by lever means and cams on a camshaft (not shown) of the machine to form yarn fed thereto by yarn carriers into courses of stitches of the fabric blanks in a common manner.

Each knitting section of the machine is also provided with means for transferring a preformed welt such as shown at 17 to the needles 10 such means including a bar 20 having points 21 on which a terminal course of the preformed rib welt is initially placed. The bar 20 with the welt extending downwardly from the points 21 is operated from a position at the front of the machine remote from the row of needles to engage the points 21 with the needles as shown in FIG. 5. The bar 20 and points 21 are then operated with the needles 10, sinkers 12 and knockover bits 16 to transfer the terminal course of the welt 17 from the points to the needles as the needles and points rise from the positions of FIG. to the position of FIG. 6. The bar 20 and the mechanism for operating it to transfer the welt to the needles form no part of the instant invention and may be of the type disclosed in said British Pat. No. 955,091 or of other similar types conventionally provided on full-fashioned knitting machines.

Each knitting section is also provided with draw-off means suitably of the type disclosed in said U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,550, such draw-off means including a bar 22 having hooks 25 with downwardly turned ends 26. The bar 22 is movable from a position adjacent the front of the machine to an intermediate position, shown in FIG. 5, and the bar is then moved from the latter position to a position adjacent the needles to engage the hooks 25 with the welt (FIG. 6) generally in the manner disclosed in said prior application.

Commonly the welt is knitted on a flat bed rib knitting machine and the welt due to its rib construction tends to contract in width. When the welt is to be transferred to the needles the terminal course must be stretched to place the loops thereof on the points 21 of the bar with the free portion of the welt extending from the points still in its normally contracted condition (FIG. 7). The bar 20 is then placed in the operating mechanism at the front of the machine and at this time the bar 22 is in its intermediate position of FIG. 5. The bar 20 is then operated to engage the points 21 with the needles 10 and the needles and points are lowered to the positions of FIG. 5 with the welt positioned between the sinkers 12, which are partially advanced at this time, and the knockover bits 16. The needles 10 and points 21 are then raised to transfer the welt from the points to the needles with the free portion of the welt extending outwardly from the needles and over the knockover bits and the bar 20 is returned to its position at the front of the machine. Before the machine is operated to knit the first course of a body fabric to the welt the bar 22 is moved from its intermediate position to its position adjacent the needles 10, the bar 22 also being raised slightly at this time and then lowered to engage the hooks 25 in the welt. Thereafter, during the subsequent formation of the body fabric the bar 22 is operated in the draw-off direction to draw off and tension the welt and body fabric as set forth in said U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,550.

In some instances the free portion of the welt, although contracted in width relative to the terminal course of the welt on the needles, will remain in substantially fiat condition on the knockover bits so that engagement of the hooks 25 of the bar 22 in the welt will result in the application of a uniform tension to the welt and body fabric knitted thereto. However, in other instances, this contraction in width of the free portion of the welt, due to such conditions as tight stitch structure, and characteristics of the yarn used in fabricating the welt on the rib machine, causes the center of the free portion to curl upwardly into the path of the hooks. When this occurs interference between the hooks and the center of the welt sometimes causes the hooks to miss the center of the welt completely thereby causing defective engagement of the hooks with the welt and the application of uneven tension to the welt and body fabric knitted thereto.

In order to overcome this curling condition in the welt, control means is provided to maintain the free portion of the welt at substantially the same width as the width of the terminal course on the needles 10. One form of the control means for this purpose according to the instant invention as shown in FIG. 3, comprises a rod-like member 30 having an elongated central portion 31 terminating in end walls 32 and pin-like end portions or fingers 35 extending outwardly from the end walls. The fingers 35, which are of reduced diameter as compared to the central portion 31, extend from the end walls 32 on axes common to the axis of the central portion and may be formed integrally with the central portion or may be formed as separate members suitably secured to the ends of the central portion.

The member 30 is preferably attached to the welt following topping of the terminal course of the welt on the points 21 of the bar 20 by inserting the finger 35 up to the end wall 32 at one end of the member 30 into the free portion of the welt adjacent one side edge or selvage thereof and at a position remote from the terminal course. The welt is then stretched course-wise and the finger 35 at the other end of the member 30 is inserted into the free portion of the welt adjacent the other side edge or selvage of the welt up to the end wall 32 at the latter end of the member 30. At this time the portion of the welt between the end walls 32 on the member 30 is stretched to substantially the same course-wise extent as the terminal course on the points 21 of the bar 20 (FIG. 8). After the control member is attached to the welt as above described the bar 20 is placed in the machine with the welt extending downward from the points 21 and the bar is then operated to transfer the terminal course of the welt from the bar 20 to the needles 10 in the manner hereinbefore set forth. As will be noted in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6 in addition to its function to control the course-wise width of the welt the control means also functions as a weight to draw the free portion of the welt away from the needles and over the noses of the knockover bits 16 at the time bar 22 is moved to engage the hooks thereon with the welt.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 the control means includes an elongated rod-like member and an outwardly extending finger 41 adjacent each end of the member 40. The fingers 41 are spaced from the axial center of the member 40 and each finger has a portion 45 extending at an angle relative thereto and suitably connected to the rod 40. The portions 45 of fingers 41 act to maintain the center of the welt in stretched condition when the fingers 41 are inserted in the welt in the same manner hereinbefore set forth in connection with the member 30.

It is believed to be obvious from the foregoing that the control means of the instant invention is adapted to condition a preformed welt transferred to a row of needles of a knitting machine for attachment of draw-off means of the machine to the welt in a manner to apply a uniform tension to the welt and body fabric subsequently knitted thereto.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described, by which the above described results are obtained, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed.

I claim:

1. A method of preparing a selvaged preformed welt for transfer to a row of needles of a straight bar knitting machine for the knitting of a body fabric to said welt including the steps of (a) stretching a terminal course at one end of said welt coursewise and topping loops of said terminal course onto points of a transfer bar,

(b) stretching said welt coursewise at a position remote from said terminal course and adjacent the free end of said welt to substantially the same extent as said terminal course on said points of said transfer bar,

(c) attaching a member in said welt adjacent the selvages thereof at said remote position to maintain said welt in stretched condition,

(d) transferring said terminal course from said points 3,535,894 5 6 of said transfer bar to said row of needles of said FOREIGN PATENTS knitting machine, and 2 (e) connecting draw-0E means of said knitting ma- 10 1890 Great Bntam' chine to said welt between said row of needles and ROBERT M ACKEY Primary Examiner said member.

References Cited 5 Us UNITED STATES PATENTS 38-102 1,940,600 12/1933 Maves et a1 38-102 3,390,550 7/1968 Haehnel et a1. 66-96 

